Friday, July 30, 2010

"It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish.”~Mother Teresa

Father, we have sinned in word, and deed, and thought,Through ignorance, through weakness, through deliberate fault.We've sinned against our neighbor and against You, Lord,Yet we are truly sorry, and we turn to You once more.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Tonight we tried a bug scavenger hunt. We found a lot of creepy crawlers and flitting fliers by just walking once around the block and by exploring our own yard! However, documenting finds with a camera is not an easy task. The following pictures reveal only a small percentage of our discoveries.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

...and say what a beautiful night it was at the beach. And you would look and think, "My what a beautiful family. Don't they make having four children look so easy!"

I wouldn't have to mention how I dropped my cell phone in the river while going out to meet my children who were ignoring my calls (as in "What?," then turn around and continue doing previous activity without actually connecting with the calling mother). Or how one of the kids had to pee three times in a span of 30 minutes, necessitating everyone's not-so-happy participation in the potty process. Or how another child seems to have an automatic whine gear that is shifted into whenever it is time to transition away from a fun event. Or . . .

It's true...You can't believe every happy picture you see on a blog! (Just keeping it real.)

Maybe tonight was payback for me suggesting this project this afternoon:

Yes, you see four kids, four toothbrushes, and some scummy bathroom tile grout.

(By the way, I think I saved my phone, I'm pretty sure my kids have been reminded how I mean business when I say something, and the bathroom floor does look much better! So maybe today wasn't so bad after all.)

Saturday, July 17, 2010

My superheroes:These two came up with a bird-trapping scheme the other day. Apparently, this was a common activity in Ethiopia. I'm not sure Andrew remembers the techniques exactly...

The set-up:

The technology:

The long and unsuccessful wait:

The dinosaur tamers:

This week we celebrated Andrew's eigth birthday. We have chosen to celebrate it on the anniversary of the day that we met the boys: July 13th. As we continue to discover all the remarkable characteristics of this special boy, we remain in awe of him: his determination, his sense of humor, his ambition, his desire to please, his compassion, his observation skills, his insight into things beyond his years. Okay, sometimes he also drives us crazy!!! But we cannot imagine our family life without this tremendous gift!

Friday, July 9, 2010

Finally, after a week of being pretty cooped up inside, we hit the bike trail by the river this morning! This, of course, demanded some time up close to the water. As always, the day was full of what I now refer to as "Andrew's Antics." Enjoy the pics.

6) Toucans, lizards, and butterflies have invaded my house...at least the VBS craft variety (in preparation for next week's adventures at the church)

5) Something like 7 doctor/dentist visits in the last week or so

4) Soccer games (Can't say enough how fun Andrew is to watch though!!)

3) Pulling double-duty on coursework (as courses overlap for a couple weeks during the summer semester) so that I can complete my MA this summer (I finished a research paper on the ethnic identity development processes of internationally adopted children this week...maybe I'll post some highlights sometime...)

Yeah, things have been rather, well, not enjoying-time-on-the-computer-friendly lately. However, I'm making an effort here! For your enjoyment, I am pasting our family's current list of "Bored" activities. You know, for those times when summer vacation just is not providing quite enough direct stimulation and some fresh ideas are needed. In those times, we pull out our "Bored Box" for inspiration. Feel free to steal any of the ideas below or to pass along your own ideas via the comment link below!